Syringe and needle assemblies have been used for a number of years for the purpose of injecting fluids into or withdrawing fluids from a body. These fluids may include medicine, blood or other types of biological materials. Due to the multitude of infectious diseases which may be carried by bodily fluids such as blood, it is extremely important that any potential leakage of fluid during an injection or withdrawal process be kept to an absolute minimum.
One location in a delivery/extraction system where bodily fluids and/or other substances may leak from the system is the connection area between the syringe and the needle assembly. Because syringes and needle assemblies are often marketed and/or manufacture separately, a doctor, nurse or other technician is required to properly connect the needle assembly to the syringe. If the needle assembly is not properly connected to the syringe, the possibility of a poor connection and accidental leakage of biological materials increases significantly. This correspondingly increases the risk of exposure to hazardous materials.
The type of media being delivered out of the syringe may also contain materials, components, or ingredients that can separate at a poor connection when exposed to the injection pressures developed in the syringe. The material separation can cause further problems of injecting or extracting the full contents of the syringe through the needle. A properly connected needle assembly to the syringe would significantly reduce the possibility of material, component, or ingredient separation from occurring.
A variety of mechanisms have been developed to securely fasten needle assemblies to syringes, but each have their drawbacks. For example, a number of conventional mechanisms include a linear connection between the syringe and the needle assembly in the form of a track or groove, in which the needle assembly slides onto the syringe. Systems with linear connections often include o-ring type seals that are located a certain distance from the path of the fluid material. This distance between the seal and the material pathway may cause delivery and/or extraction problems for certain types of materials. Other types of conventional systems involve a rotational fitting between the needle assembly and the syringe. These systems allow for a line-to-line seal that is integral to the material path, but the systems are somewhat limited in their ability to indicate to the user when an adequate or proper connection has been achieved. Furthermore, some of these systems may be prone to being “overtightened” which can affect the functionality and/or safety of the completed assembly. Also, it can often be difficult to determine whether the needle assembly is properly connected to the syringe. In either case, an improperly made connection between the needle assembly and the syringe can have hazardous results and/or functional/operational problems.